This invention relates to protection for the sidewalls of pickup trucks which have an open bed. Many owners of pickup trucks who work in various trades outfit the bed of their trucks with mounted tool boxes which may be elongate and mounted lengthwise to the bed sidewall or transversely mounted, resting on both sidewalls of the pickup bed. When used, such tool boxes are typically accessed by approaching the sidewall of the pickup body, opening the tool box, and reaching into the tool box to remove or replace the desired tools or other objects. It is easy in day-to-day use of the tool boxes for the pickup sidewall to become scratched or inflicted with minor dents while objects are taken from or placed into the bed mounted tool boxes. For the pickup owner who takes pride in the appearance of his vehicle, such imperfections are unacceptable.
One apparatus to protect the sidewall of automobiles on which engine work is being done is disclosed in Olson, et. al., U. S. Pat. No. 5,290,618, where a protective cover is provided for the fender near the engine compartment, the cover being retained to the vehicle by an elastic cord having hooks at opposing ends. Such a device cannot easily be applied to the truck bed sidewall because of a scarcity of available features on which to hook the elastic cord, especially when tool boxes are mounted above the bed's sidewall.
Another apparatus directed to protection of body sidewalls is shown in McNeil, U. S. Pat. No. 5,312,145, wherein a foam sheet is bonded to a magnetic sheet useful to retain the foam protective sheet to the steel body of a vehicle. The device is directed to protection of car door panels in parking lots. Such a device would not be useful for vehicles having composite, nonmetallic body parts. In addition, the magnetic element of the invention will attract metal detritus which can be trapped behind the protective sheet and inflict scratches instead of protecting against them.
The patent to Sugiyama, U. S. Pat. No. 4,734,312, teaches an automobile-body-conformed, semi-rigid protective panel which requires a lug to engage a seam or raised part of the vehicle surface to retain the protective panel to the vehicle. Such a structure would not work for the generally smooth sidewall of a pickup body.
None of the aforementioned patents teaches a suitable apparatus for protection of the sidewall from incidental scratching or damage from the regular use of a tool box mounted in a pickup bed.